Of Broken Down Villages and Weird Rules
by WhatBoredomWills
Summary: If one has to ask Naruto for help, one should know that he won't reject it. But what happens when Naruto bumps into a stranger, gets his ass whooped in arm wrestling and now has to help this stranger retrieve their kidnapped teammates? Oh, and it was a she! R&R No pairings UPDATE: changed title name :P


**Author's Note:**

_I do not own Naruto. I own my own Original Characters. [By the way, it is necessary to mention this, I suppose!]_

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**Naruto Shippu! The Sankakukei Cycle!**

**Chapter One  
**_**The Strange Foreigner**_

Yesterday, Naruto felt that he had the best time in life when he was sent to do a mission overseas. Now, on his way walking in the street towards his favorite lunch place, remembering yesterday brought up a wide grin that even the word _happiness _cannot fully described the expression. How can he not think of it as a great thing when every good thoughts would conjure up with yesterday's events? The journey towards the targeted place was pleasant; he even got to enjoy the delicacy of other cultures' different taste for ramen. It was a great way to start off a mission in a _foreign _land. The mission itself was easily handled, nothing special or particularly complicated that it would need more effort on his part especially. It was, in fact, the easiest B-rank mission that he thought ever given to him or any ninjas in Konoha for that matter. In short, it was haven mission for him.

Upon the great success of not _screwing up_ the mission, Yamato had promised to treat him for ramen at Ichiraku. Not to mention, the ANBU Captain had to face his fears of caterpillars during the mission that the three young ninjas under him had threatened to expose such secrets once they were home. But, upon negotiation with the three, Yamato had come to an amicable agreement that he would pay them their lunch for a whole month! Talk about _haven mission! _To Naruto, it was a mission that had welcomed him great lengths of luck!

_I can't believe that guy is even an ANBU member! _He giggled to himself as he remembered, _Caterpillars! Wait till I ask Shino for some potion to attract caterpillars—then we get to see the real reaction! _As he was walking by the Konoha gates, he stopped walking. His nostrils sniffed a smell of melting butter nearby. With his eyes pressed into a fox-like stare, he started to trace the smell in the air. He looked in every direction: left, right, and left, right. _What is this smell? It's butter, isn't it? _Still, he could not find the right direction from where the scent is coming from. He was itching to know where it came from. As he was busy thinking about the smell, he forget to look where he was going!

_Thud!_

"Whoops!" he exclaimed upon reflex. He shyly scratched the back of his head, "My bad! Sorry about that, lady!"

His nostrils caught the smell again. This time, it was _extremely _close him; he could smell it like it was planted on his nose. When his eyes blinked for a clearer view of who was before him, his blue eyes widened. From where he stood, the person was about two inches taller than him. Judging from eyelashes, it was a female but also, judging from the figure, it was a very _tough-looking_ female (however, she still had slender body as Sakura). She also reminded him so much of Tsunade. In fact, speaking of blonde hair, the person reminded him of himself. But, you can hardly see her feminine features under that straw hat. As he examined her, she returned his stare with piercing blue eyes.

"That _hitai-ate,_" she commented in a calm surprise, "Do all Konoha ninjas have problems with their sense of direction?"

Naruto gasped, _What did she say? Have problems with sense of directions? Who is this!_

"And this is where the world place its hope on—hardly what I expected," she scoffed arrogantly as she walked away.

Her scoff was so arrogant that Naruto simply lost his temper. He bit his lips and his fists clenched in an all-or-nothing stance; what he was about to do was risky, but any ninja defending the name of Konoha would do the same when someone dares to speak lowly of their country.

"Hey, lady!" he called out to her. She was only a few steps away, so she merely stopped and lowered her head as she listened to what he had to say. "You come back here and take back all your words! How dare you speak that way about Konoha while staying within its compound!"

She turned her head, but only half way, with her eyes speaking more than her lips. "I will take them all back once you and your comrades find some _sense _in your immature directions of your dreams!"

"If I beat you in arm wrestling, will you take them back then?"

She seemed interested in that. Whatever was her reason to come to Konoha, it had to wait. She had to win this arm wrestling with this _stubborn _blonde ninja, whom she would love to beat. She turned her head, only this time, in full view of her androgynous smirk. Since Naruto had shouted the challenge, the dango stall nearby have offered to host it. They were a few civilians who also overheard them speaking to each other and was interested to watch an arm wrestling match. The table cloth was removed and the audience gathered around the arena, preparing to watch a Konoha ninja beat an arrogant foreigner.

Naruto took the right side of the table while the stranger took the left side of the table. The owner of the stall was so excited that he offered free dangos for the audience to enjoy while they watch the intense match. The stranger did not take off her straw hat, but it was no problem. Naruto felt so confident that he could beat anyone at this while blindfolded.

"I suggest that we have eight rounds," she muttered, confident as well.

Naruto smirked and shot a sharper glare of confidence, "Oh, please! Don't be a wuss! I say four rounds!"

"Two rounds then, you imbecilic, good-for-nothing ninja."

"Two rounds it is then, you reckless, piece-of-nothing foreigner."

They returned glares at each other. Seeing that the match had taken place in his stall, the owner of the dango shop had decided to be an referee for this match. As he raised his multi-colored fan, he counted from five to one. While counting, Naruto shoved his sleeves down while the strange elegantly folded her sleeves to her elbow. _Piece o'cake! _He thought as he silently clenched his fists ready. In corner of his eye, Naruto caught the glimpse of a bandaged wound just where the folded sleeves ends around the stranger's arm. He also noticed that the stranger had a weird _kanji _written on her exposed left arm. He monitored her closely as she clenched her fist; with the way she did it, she probably knew how to handle the pain from the wound.

_She's wounded? _But, it was too late for him to worry about that!

"Three… Two… One!"

Their fists clenched within each other. Suddenly, time felt so heavy that the seconds felt like hours. Within the hectic cry of the crowd, Naruto ran his skin against the stranger's; it was so soft! Distracted by the discovery, she took the chance to clench his hand tightly and tried to slam it on the table. But Naruto saw it coming and managed to fight her off. He tried his best to push her arm down his winning side and as he was approaching towards the end, her hand hit the table and Naruto won the first round.

"The winner is… Konoha!" the owner announced proudly.

Naruto gave a huge smirk as he was praised by the crowd. But it was not over yet. The stranger had her own plans.

"We shall switch arms then!" she stood up from her chair.

"Excuse me," laughed one of the civilians, "We don't switch arms here!"

She shot a glare at him, "To make it fair, you have to switch sides with me; right arm to right arm and left arm to left arm. It would be an equal fight if he chose to fight with left arm in the second round."

"Wait a minute," said the owner this time, "Why are you insisting on this? Could it be that you're good with your left arm and you're insisting so that you could beat him at this?"

_So, I'm the only one who saw that wound! _Naruto's gaze sharpened. The stranger hesitated to answer for a while. Naruto saw her bit her lower lip and clenched her right fist in pain. _She is definitely wounded! That's why I won! _

"Fine then," the strange induced her words rather angrily. "This round will settle it!"

She did not want to push herself off the edge but she had already exposed the strength of her right arm despite the wound; she almost beat him with it. It had also been made obvious to the audience surrounding her and therefore she needed to maintain her stability. Seeing what he saw, Naruto hesitated to continue the second and final round.

He clenched his right fist once more and gave a calm warning look at the stranger, almost whispering, "If you have to bail out, it's not too late. You just have to take back your words on me, is all."

"I will not back down from this wrestling just because you think you have an advantage at this. I will not go back on my words," she replied without any sign of giving in to him. She raised her head with a glint of surety in her eyes just as Naruto had in his. "C'mon, kid! Don't hang me lose for mocking you!"

"Tch! Like hell I will!" Naruto tightened his clench.

They made ready once again, putting their arms on the table and waited for the creeping countdown. The tension increased and the two opposing blondes began to sweat their efforts. This was especially for the stranger though, seeing that she on that funny straw hat.

"Three… Two… One!"

Their fists meet and at this point, they were geared with the same power. They were equally strong as he tried to push her down and she tried to push him down. Alas, both ended p maintaining the same position. Naruto gritted his teeth and launched full force, but the strange only did the same. _None of us will win if it continues like this! _He thought.

"How about it?" She chuckled, "Feel tired of pushing me off, kid?"

Naruto smirked for himself, "I can handle the pressure!"

But he was wrong. He could not handle her strength. Their fists remained standing up high in the middle of the table and the resisting power had tired their muscles beyond imagination. One of them would have to quit from fighting each other off. Initially, it was not going to be Naruto. He planned that it should have been the stranger.

But he was wrong, _again. _In that instant, he felt a pierce through his chest and arms. He did not know what it was or where it came from. His energy is slowly cooling down and he commanded his body to respond but nothing was happening. It was like something had taken over his strength and his body refused to react to him. _What's going on? _He bit his lips trying to force his arm to stay strong, but with the stranger's strength, he was slowly reaching the table. _It's like my chakra is being stopped! I can't make them come back! _

"You know," the stranger muttered; her voice seemed to be the only clear thing in the loud cries of the crowd, "Before you ask someone for an arm wrestling contest, you should first find out whether they are ninjas or not!"

He blinked blurrily, _She's a ninja? _Her lips shaped into a smirk and she clenched her fists before she slammed down his arm on the table. The audience was awed. It was a tie and nothing is more embarrassing than that. Naruto pulled his arm and tried to clench his fist again; they worked perfectly all of the sudden, just when his skin was no longer in contact with hers. When he looked back up, she was already gone, even the audience did not see where she went.

_A ninja like that? With that kimono and sash with no headbands, I won't know where she comes from or who she works for! And she beat me at arm wrestling! _He gulped silently, _Damn it! I didn't see this coming! _

"Hey, kid!" the owner had an angry expression, "I can't believe you've lost to foreigner like that!"

Naruto nervously scratched his head, "Mister, please calm down!"

"I will _not_ calm down! Tell me your name and I will make sure that you come working here everyday for a month!"

"I'll get back to you on that one!" he laughed and slowly slid away from the crowd of disappointed people. "Bye!"

The owner growled and stomped, "Ergh! Come back here!"

Naruto made a run for his life as he was wanted at the dango shop. _Never use that road again! _He panted for air, _Speaking of which, I have to tell Tsunade-oba-chan to clear things off!_ While he ran towards Ichiraku Ramen, he remembered the stinging sensation he felt just before the foreign stranger slammed his arm down on the table. _She was strong! If she were really a ninja, it would be a tough battle with her! _He slowed down as he caught sight of the shop, seeing Sakura, Sai and Yamato waiting outside. He approached them in a hurry after noticing the upsetting look they had when they saw him.

"Hey!"

Sakura pouted, "What took you so long, _shannaro?_ We waited and waited; what's your goddamn excuse now?"

"You won't believe me Sakura!" Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

"Well, try me!" she insisted, "You're being just like Kakashi-sensei!"

"Look, I bumped into this foreigner who told me that _ninjas in Konoha have no sense of directions_ and I told her to take it back. The—"

Sai raised his eyebrows, "It was a _she?_"

"Y-yeah, she didn't want to take it back and said that, _'I will take them all back once you and your comrades find some sense in your immature directions of your dreams!'_"

"She said that?" Sakura gasped in annoyance.

"Word for word," Naruto sighed. "So I insisted that she take it back and decided to hold an arm wrestling contest."

His female teammate slapped her forehead in disappointment, "Are you crazy? An arm wrestling? With a female?"

"Listen, we negotiated a two rounds contest. But what bugs me is that… In the final round, while my fist was fighting off with her, there was this jolt of energy that _literally _stopped my chakra flow and I couldn't command my body for a while!"

Sakura pouted lightly; she did not seem to care, "You're just imagining things! You probably feel bad about being beaten up by a female and now you're trying to make things up!"

"I'm _not_, okay! I lost control of my chakra and she slammed me hard on the table! She also said, _'Before you ask someone for an arm wrestling contest, you should first find out whether they are ninjas or not!' _And before long, she disappeared! I don't know where she went. I looked up and she was gone!"

"I don't know about this guys," Yamato suddenly cut in, "Do you guys really want me to treat you lunch or not?"

"Yamato-taicho! You stay out of this!" Sakura demanded. She gave a serious look at Naruto and used the _Mystical Palm technique _to see if Naruto was telling the truth. She began on a light note at first but then, her eyes widened, "Y-you're _actually _telling the truth!"

Naruto was slightly offended, "Of course I am!"

"Your chakra flow has been distorted—well, just a little bit! Whatever it is, it's only supposed to have a short-term effect on you! You'll be better soon! Nothing serious!"

Sai shook his head, "Naruto-kun has actually lost to a female!"

"Oh, shut up!" growled Naruto with red cheeks.

"But, I must ask, did you get a look on the person's hitai-ate?"

Naruto shrugged his shoulders, "That's the thing! There is _no _hitai-ate on the person! She only had that weird straw hat and a tattoo on her left arm!"

"Well," Sakura wondered, "What was the tattoo?"

"I don't know!" exclaimed Naruto. The rest of his team sighed in frustration.

But Sai did not give in. He took out a piece of paper and a wet brush for Naruto. He shoved them at Naruto, "Here! Try and write it out!"

Naruto closed his eyes as his hand took the brush. He tried to remember the person once again and her tattoo appeared as clear as day. His hands moved according to what he remembers and out came the result. He opened up his eyes to fight an actually _kanji _written on the paper.

"That's _shin,_" Sai murmured in thought, "It means _loyalty."_

"Shin-gakure? Who has come from there?" Yamato jumped in again.

Sakura looked back at her captain, "Do you know someone from that village?"

"I-I've heard of Shin-gakure before… It's just a small village in South East. There's a small organization that runs the town—that' funny! I used to remember going there a few things when I was your age! But now I don't even remember that organization anymore!" laughed Yamato.

Sai shot a murky gaze at him, "For a Captain who fear caterpillars, I'm not at all surprised!"

Yamato's ears twitched irritably, "Why you—!"

"What does the organization do for the village?" Naruto intervened Yamato's drastic reaction to Sai's threat on _the secret. _He was interested to know if the ninja that he had lost to was actually a part of the organization.

"You see," Yamato began, "The village was not part of our territory so the organization works like Konoha government—helping the people on food ration, protecting them from outside danger, collecting intelligence for allied countries—while at the same time, they sought help from us as well. The organization is basically the democratic policy of the village, the military, the ANBU and the Black Ops altogether."

"Must be tough to have to do so many things," Sai commented.

"Of course it was! But I haven't heard about it since I was ANBU—that's ten years ago! It's really surprising for them to come up all the sudden!"

Naruto nodded his head as curiously as well, "Yeah. I wonder why…"

"Anyway!" Sakura cheered happily, "We've promised ourselves a _great _deal of free lunches with Yamato-taicho! So since we're all hungry, let's go and eat!"

Sai followed Sakura as she entered the stall while Yamato reluctantly joined them. Naruto stood outside for awhile as he lowered his head in wonder. _If she's a part of that organization, she must be strong! _He thought quietly, _I will beat her one day! I'll get her back! _He raised his head and clenched his fist in confidence but just as he took a step forward, he sensed someone watching him. The plain Sunday crowd roamed freely with no sign of danger whatsoever. He dismissed it and walked into the stall.

"I see," the stranger grinned as she looked down from the rooftop just opposite the stall, "That was Uzumaki Naruto, the Kyuubi jinchuuriki!"

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**Author's PS: **_I should have been doing chapters for my other fan fiction but I got distracted hehe! ;D If you want to see how the stranger looks like, visiting my Deviant Art and you'll find her under 'Kaihime'. Don't read my comments if you don't want to get spoilers. ;) _


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